“Tony the Vet” promotes art for veterans

Anthony “Tony the Vet” LoBue served as an Army officer during the Vietnam War era, then in the Texas Army National Guard and as a reservist. Now he’s on a different mission: to bring art to veterans throughout San Diego County.

LoBue, 72, who is also disabled with spinal problems, found that his passion for art has helped heal his mind and body. The North Park resident holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, theater and creative writing, and shares those specialties through volunteer classes at the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park, Veteran’s Village and other venues.

He hopes to expand support for Veterans in the Arts Initiatives at the state and local levels, and has walked across the country three times on different routes to promote “recognition, respect and rewards” for military members.

His ideal art form is a spontaneous mélange of different media. His Instagram feed bursts with vivid, pop art photos of fruits and vegetables, geometric arrangements of household objects and portraits of a calico cat. He talks about how he works to make art opportunities available to veterans.

Q: How did art help you make sense of your military experience or reintegrate into civilian life?

A: It allows me to accommodate ambiguity, be imaginative, practice problem solving, enjoy whole person engagement (head, heart and hands), make something out of nothing, and then show and tell that to myself and others as a statement of who I am as an individual and member of the community.

Q: What art form or media is nearest and dearest to your heart?

A: My favorite art form is mixed-media ephemeral art made in the moment with whatever materials, media or persons are at hand.

Q: Of the various veterans’ art projects you are involved in, which is your top priority?

A: My top priority is developing my Arts for Veterans Project for both education (as sponsored by the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park) and employment (as partly funded by the San Diego Veterans Employment Committee).

Q: Have you always worked in the arts, or did you previously work in other fields?

A: I previously worked in other fields — namely, as a real estate broker, developer and investor, as an insurance and securities agent, and as an English teacher.

Q: What kind of changes have you seen in other veterans’ lives as a result of art?

A: I’ve seen these primary changes in veterans’ lives as a result of their participation in creative arts: whole person engagement; present time immersion; holistic integration of body, mind and spirit; social skills improvement; self-empowerment and life-affirming joy!

Q: Given the military presence in San Diego, what is the role of veterans’ art in representing that world to civilians?

A: The role of creative arts — literary, performing and visual — made by veterans in representing their “military world” to civilians can be twofold. First, military-themed art by veterans can educate civilians to the artist’s unique experience of that world. Second, all art by veterans of any theme educate civilians to recognize, respect and reward veteran artists as people with artistic talents regardless of their military service.

Q: Can creative arts help reduce the estimated 22 daily veteran suicides?

A: Yes. I absolutely believe the self-evident healing power of the arts is at least equivalent to the doctor’s scalpel, the psychiatrist’s drug and the psychologist’s talk as effective self-intervention. Why? Because nothing else provides the same therapeutic whole person engagement, self-empowerment and positive social interaction available 24/7, anywhere and free to a veteran who suffers post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury or other visible and invisible injuries that produce pain and otherwise lower self-esteem. Art changes lives. Art heals. Art saves lives. Art is the answer.

Q: Who are your top five favorite artists?

A: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Picasso, Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, Alvaro Blancarte.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever received?

A: Do what you love, and love what you do.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: I served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer between 1976 and 1977 in a remote village in Togo in West Africa, where I taught English to French-speaking natives.

Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: Meet up with art lovers, enjoy a vegan meal, attend literary, performing and visual arts events, and then discuss them.

What I love most about North Park ...

It offers quality literary, performing and visual arts in abundance.